Surprises, Surprises
by Dr. Michaela Quinn
Summary: The Bower-Micelli household is full of surprises; but just how will the rest of the family handle them? Will this bring them closer together? Or pull them apart?
1. Private Secrets

**A/N: Takes place after the show. Six months after Tony and Angela's wedding.**

Samantha and hank were sitting at the kitchen table one morning. Hank was sitting in the chair and Sam was sitting across his lap. They were kissing. After a few minutes Hank pulled away.

"I really think we should tell your dad Sam." Hank said and Sam sighed. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Hank, you don't know my dad like I do. I can't tell him that we're moving all the way across the country."

"You'll have to sometime." Samantha sighed again.

"Seattle is so far away."

"What about Angela? She could help us." Samantha shook her head.

"Angela's been like a mother to me since I was eleven, and now as my step-mother she may feel the same as dad."

"She was the voice of reason when we got married."

"Angela didn't want us to marry any more than dad did, but she told him we'd marry whether they liked it or not." When the kitchen door creaked, Samantha jumped up. Mona laughed as she walked in.

"It's alright Sam. What are you two lovebirds talking about?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Samantha walked out as Angela walked in.

"What's wrong with her?" Angela asked motioning towards the door. Mona tossed her towel on the counter.

"Not a clue."

"How was your date last night?"

"Why is everybody asking about my date?" Mona asked angrily. Angela crossed her arms.

"What?"

"Tony asked me when I came down earlier." Angela's eyes grew wide.

"Tony's back?" Mona shook her head no.

"He's still on his jog." Angela sighed. Mona looked into her eyes. "Why?" She stared at her daughter. "Angela, you look terrible."

"Thanks Mother." Angela said sarcastically.

"No, I mean it." She put her hand against Angela's cheek. "You're burning up with fever. Are you alright?" Angela ran her hand over her matted hair.

"I'm fine. I ate something." Mona looked concerned.

"What'd you eat?" Angela shrugged. Mona shook her daughter. "Remember!" Angela shook of her mother.

"I'll be fine." Mona looked at her before walking into the other room. She stood in the living room and pulled the necklace off her neck and held it up. Dangling from the chain was a diamond ring. Mona clasped it in her hand before she walked out the door.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

In the kitchen, Angela poured herself a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice. She took one sip and dropped the glass on the table and ran to the bathroom. Dropping to her knees, she leaned over the stood and threw up. After a few minutes she stood on weak knees and walked up the stairs. She knocked on Jonathan's door. He was laying on his bed. There was a big decision in front of Jonathan. His dad offered him a job at his company, but Jonathan would have to quit college. He'd have his own branch of the documentary business in New York City. The only question is: what should he tell his mother?

"Come in." He said and the door opened. Angela walked in and sat at the foot of his bed.

"I wanted to make sure you're awake. Tony's taking us all for breakfast. He has a big announcement to make." Jonathan nodded.

'I'm ready mom." She smiled and tapped his leg.

"We haven't had a mother-son talk in a while."

_"Oh no." Jonathan thought._

"How are you? How's school?"

"Both are fine mom." He sighed. "Mom, we've always been close. You don't have to pull the 'I need to be both mother and father routine.' Tony's here. He's been like a dad to me since I was eight years old." Angela nodded and stood up.

"I understand. Well he is your dad now. Even if it is step. We've been a family longer than I realized."

"I love you mom." Angela turned and smiled.

"I love you too Jonathan. Now as your mother, I say get up and come downstairs." She laughed and closed the door behind her. As she walked down the stairs. Tony walked in.

"Hi Angela." He walked over and kissed her forehead lightly.

"Hi Tony." She smiled that pearly white smile.

"Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Yeah." Tony frowned as he looked at his wife with a ball of matted blonde hair standing in her night gown and bathrobe.

"Are you sure?" She looked down and laughed.

"Oh, I'll be right down." Angela headed upstairs. From the look in Tony's eyes she could tell his news would change the rest of their lives. But so would hers.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. Tony

Everybody was nervous at breakfast. When would they share their secrets? What was Tony's big news? When they got to the table everyone sat down. It was a rectangular table. Tony sat at the head of the table. On his left was Angela. Samantha was on his right. Mona sat across the table from him. Hank was next to Sam and Jonathan sat next to his mother. Tony stood up and held his glass of orange juice high.

"I have an announcement to make."

"We know! Get on with it!" Mona said. Angela picked up her juice. "Are you pregnant?" Angela dropped her glass, spilling juice all over herself and the table. She started coughing uncontrollably. Tony sat down.

"Are you okay?" She coughed once more and nodded.

"I'm fine. The juice went down too fast."

"Maybe it had pulp." Tony's face slowly turned red. "I asked for pulp free juice!" Angela delicately placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.

"It's fine. Really, Tony. I'm alright." She looked down. "We'll clean this up and then I'll clean myself off." Angela spoke quietly and delicate, yet firm.

"You go to the bathroom mom. We'll take care of this." Jonathan said. She looked down at him.

"You'll be alright?" Jonathan nodded. Angela walked off to the bathroom with Mona and Sam not far behind.

"What do you think's wrong?" Sam asked. Mona looked at her.

"My daughter's a klutz. She always has been." Mona replied and Sam glared at her with her arms crossed.

"I think there's a problem. Angela was fine until you mentioned dad being pregnant."

"I was kidding!" Mona exclaimed.

"I mean, maybe dad and Angela were trying, but couldn't have a child." Realization finally hit Mona and she gasped grabbing Sam's shoulders.

"Jonathan is the only future of the Robinson family?" She shuddered and hugged Sam. "Maybe I'll have another child." Sam laughed.

"Mona?" Mona pinched her.

"What?" Mona asked. Sam rubbed her arm. They walked into the bathroom. Angela was wiping off the juice with a paper towel. "If you need a pat down you should have talked to Tony." Angela stopped and glared at Mona.

"Mother." She said in a warning tone. "I'm in here because I spilled orange juice on myself."

"And we know why." Mona shook her head. Angela's eyes opened wide.

"You do?"

"Yes. You and dad can't have a baby and you're upset." Angela sighed and laughed.

"Sam, we've only been married six months and I am over forty."

"Oh." Sam replied and Angela smiled.

"Sam, please go out to the jag and get my clothes. I always have a second set in the car." Sam looked at Mona confused. Angela didn't usually keep a change of clothes in the jag. This was weird. She shrugged anyway and ran out of the bathroom.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When the girls got back out the boys had the table cleaned off. They sat back down.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked and Angela nodded.

"I'm just the Connecticut klutz." Angela replied. Tony smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Where was I?"

"Your announcement." Jonathan said. Tony nodded.

"Yes." He smiled. "Well, I got a teaching job."

"That's great dad!" Sam said smiling.

"Yeah." Hank stated. Angela was solemn. She put her hands in her lap and looked down at the table.

"Where at Tony?" She asked without looking up. He didn't notice her tone.

"I'll be teaching an elementary school class at a charter school in Boston."

"Boston?" Angela asked.

"Massachusetts?" Mona asked concerned. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Of course in Massachusetts."

"When do you leave?" Jonathan asked.

"June or July." Tony replied. They table was quiet. The family hadn't really been apart before and now Tony and Angela were permanently moving away? Mona walked over and hugged Tony.

"I've taken care of Angela the last forty years. You take care of her the next forty. She's all I have left." There were tears in Mona's eyes. She turned away and looked at Angela. Angela took her hand.

"I love you Mother."

"I love you too Angela." Mona hugged her. "I'll take care of Jonathan."

"Jonathan's going with us mother." Angela stated.

"Uh," Jonathan paused. "There's something I need to tell you-" Everybody looked over at Jonathan as he sat there quietly. Angela laid her hand gently over his on the table.

"Sweetheart?" She asked softly.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Jonathan

"Mom, I won't be staying with you or with grandma."

"Why, what's wrong?" Jonathan wiped his hands on his pants. They were really sweating.

"Dad called me a while back." Angela laughed nervously.

"Is that all? He can call, he is your father." Jonathan shook his head.

"He wants me to join the Bower Documentaries."

"Oh." Angela looked at Jonathan. Tony took her hand.

"I'll have my own branch in New York City." Angela smiled.

"So you'll still be on the east coast? New York isn't very far away from Boston." Angela said and the panic melted away as relief set in.

"What about school? How can you attend Fairfield College and work all the time in New York?" Tony asked. Jonathan was quiet.

"Jonathan?" Angela asked. Jonathan looked up at her slowly.

"Dad will be here next week. He needs somebody who can be available soon."

"What does that mean? What's it have to do with school Jonathan?" Jonathan sighed.

"It's close enough to the beginning of the semester that you'll get most of your money back."

"Get my money back? You're quitting school?" Jonathan couldn't look at her.

"Dad needs me. I'll have a good job. I'll be fine."

"Jonathan, it's 1993, you need a college education."

"Jonathan, you can't quit school. That's crazy." Sam said. "Why would you quit?" Jonathan looked right at her.

"Because not everybody can marry a puppeteer Sam." She glared at him.

"Not now guys." Tony warned looking between Sam and Jonathan. Angela put her free hand on the back of Jonathan's chair.

"Jonathan, I never expected you to follow in my footsteps by going to business school and graduate school."

"But you're mad if I follow dad." Jonathan finished. Angela shook her head.

"No, no, but your father also went to college. He got a degree he can still use. You should go too."

"Then I'll go back in a few years. Dad needs somebody now, and he asked me mom." He sighed. "I'm eighteen mom. You can't tell me what to do anymore. I want to do this with dad." Angela sighed.

"I can't stop you. If you want to do this, it's fine; just remember what I asked you."

"I will."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Later on, Angela paced in her bedroom. Tony opened the door.

"Are you still here?" She turned to face him. Her arms were stiffly crossed and a stern frown had implanted itself on her face.

"Michael has stolen the last part of my life."

"What?"

"You heard Jonathan. He's not going back to college. Where do you think he got THAT from?" Tony walked over.

"Angela, Jonathan made this decision. I'm sure Michael didn't make it any more than you did." She glared at him, but from the distance in her eyes Tony could tell the anger was not meant for him. "Angela?" She walked over and sat down on the bed. He walked over to her and sat behind her. He rubbed her neck from her jawline all the way to her shoulder with the back side of his hand.

"Tony." She said slowly.

"You really shouldn't worry about Jonathan. He'll be alright. He still love you. He loves and adores you so much." Angela laid back on the bed. Her arm bent at the elbow with her arm above her head with her hand behind her head and one hand casually on her stomach. Tony put one hand on ears and leaned on his hand with his elbow against the bed. He kissed her. She sighed.

"Do you regret leaving Iowa and coming back to Connecticut?"

"What?" He sat up. Tony wasn't exactly sure what Angela was getting at.

"Do you regret leaving your job in Iowa at the college?" She asked again and then sighed. "You were a professor, you were the baseball coach. Do you regret coming back here to just be a housekeeper?" Angela looked into his eyes and he gazed into her beautiful brown eyes.

"Angela, I love you. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm not just a housekeeper. I have never been just a housekeeper." Angela nodded in agreement.

"You started out that first day as just a housekeeper. But we became friends the longer you were here."

"I'm proud to be Mr. Angela Bower." Tony joked and Angela laughed.

"Oh Tony." She kissed him. "I'm happy to be your wife. I just don't want you regretting your decision."

"The only decision I regret is leaving you." He paused. "How could you possibly regret the decision to marry the woman you love?" She smiled. "Angela?"

"Hmmm." She asked.

"Have you thought about children?"

"Yes, I always think of Jonathan and Samantha." Tony laughed.

"That's fine. But I mean a baby."

"What?" Angela asked.

"Angela," He paused. "I would like us to consider having a baby. I love Jonathan and I know you love Samantha, but I mean for us to have a child together. Something that we would always share." Angela laughed.

"Tony, we're in our 40s." Angela replied. Tony knew where this was going.

"We don't have to if you don't want to."

"No. I love you and I have always wanted another baby since Jonathan was four years old. But Michael thought it would affect his career and he left two years later. I've been a single mother for the last twelve years. I didn't think I could take care of a child when I couldn't be there for Jonathan and my career."

"But you did the best thing for Jonathan that you ever could have." Angela sat up and looked at him. She picked at the lint on the blanket.

"What's that?"

"You hired me." Tony said with a laugh. Angela looked up at him and he ran his hand over her hair. "But you have me now and you won't be alone ever again." He kissed her.


	4. Samantha

That evening, while Angela was on the bed reading a book and Tony walked in from the bathroom wrapped in a towel there was a knock on the door. Angela looked up from her book.

"Come in." The door opened and Samantha stood there with Hank. Sam gasped when she saw Angela sitting on the bed in her silky nightgown and Tony standing there wrapped up in a towel.

"Dad!" Sam hollered. Hank looked down at the floor. Angela stood up and put her robe on.

"Sam, this isn't what it looks like. Your dad was just in the shower."

"Yeah, but why?" Samantha asked wearily. Tony sighed.

"Samantha." He said in his frustrated voice. "What do you want?" Samantha walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. Hank stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

"We need to talk to both of you." Samantha said and sighed. Angela sat down on the bed, took off her reading glasses and sat them on the table by the bed.

"What is it Sam?" Angela asked. Samantha sighed again. Tony sat down on the bed next to Samantha.

"Baby?" He questioned. Samantha looked up at him. Her eyes started misting over.

"Dad, I'm so sorry. I don't mean to hurt you." Tony looked at her curiously, but didn't say anything. Hank rubbed her arms.

"It's alright Sam. Do you want me to tell them?" Hank asked. Samantha nodded silently. Hank looked up at them. "I got a job. It's a good job. One that will help me be able to truly support Samantha." Tony perked up and smiled.

"This is good news." He put his hand under Samantha's chin. "Why are you crying?"

"Dad, that's not all." She replied between sobs.

"What? What?" Tony asked. Angela got up and walked over to him. She put her hand on his back.

"Tony, why don't we let Samantha and Hank tell us what's going on?" She suggested patiently. He nodded and then looked up at Hank.

"The job is in Seattle, Washington." Hank replied with a nod.

"Seattle?" Angela asked.

"Washington?!" Tony exclaimed. Sam cried harder.

"I know dad, I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier." Angela walked over to her and Samantha clung onto her.

"It's alright Sam. It'll be okay." Angela said and held her daughter close to her chest.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. We've been so close for so many years and now I'm moving all the way across the country." Samantha looked into Angela's eyes.

"It's alright Sam. You'll be fine. Your dad really understands. We'll still see you. Maybe it won't be across the breakfast table every morning; but we'll still see you enough." Angela said kindly. Samantha looked up at her.

"You believe that?" Angela nods.

"I do." She smiled. Tony walked over and hugged his wife and his daughter.

"I love my girls!" He exclaimed happily. Angela walked away and let Tony take Samantha in his arms. "You will always be my little girl. I love you and I always will. Whether you stay in Fairfield or whether you go to Seattle."

"Really?" She asked. Tony wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"Ay oh, I moved out of Brooklyn to give you a better life. Now Hank wants to move to Seattle so you guys can have an even better life as husband and wife. I think you should go." Tony replied. He was holding back tears, but he didn't want Samantha to see it. Angela walked back over and he took her hand in his.

"Alright." Samantha nodded. She sniffed one more time. "Thank you. Both of you." Then she stood up on her own and walked out the door with Hank right behind her. After Hank closed the door, Tony turned to Angela. He started to break down. Tony looked at the ground and started crying.

"I'm losing my little girl." Tony cried. Angela held him.

"Remember what you told me about Jonathan? It'll be alright. Seattle isn't that far away. It's just a plane ride away." Angela said. "Remember when you were in Iowa last year?"

"But that was just for a few months. This is forever." Tony said. He hugged Angela. She laughed sympathetically.

"Tony, it'll be alright. Samantha is a big girl. We got through her growing up- puberty, college, marriage. You can get through her first move too." Angela stated. Tony shook his head.

"Why does everything have to fall apart right when something good happens for us?" Angela gave him a funny look.

"What do you mean?" She asked. He sat on the bed.

"I got a job with a great school in Boston. And then my step-son quits college and my daughter moves all the way across the country." Tony said. Angela sighed.

"Tony, Jonathan is quitting college, but he will have a good job with his father. Michael has worked in the documentary business almost twenty years now. It is stable work." She paused, probably trying to convince herself of that as well. Then she sighed. "And Samantha, while they are moving to another state, she is doing it because Hank will be able to support her better than he can here. He'll have a good job and she loves him." Tony nodded.

"I understand that. But it doesn't make it hurt any less." Angela nodded.

"I know what you mean." She hugged him. "Why don't you go to bed?" She rubbed his shoulder. "It's getting late. We shouldn't be staying up that late." Tony nodded.

"You're right. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow. We have a lot of packing to do tomorrow." Tony replied. She shook her head.

I'm ready to go." She put her hand through his arm and rested her chin on his shoulder. "But first, you may want to go look for a house in Boston before you move us there." She smiled. He looked over at her.

"I've found a house I really like; but you and I both need to go look at it. Since you are the one who's going to be paying for it." He laughed. Angela looked at him.

"That still bothers you doesn't it?" She asked. He glanced up at her.

"What?"

"That I make more money than you do." She replied. "I have worked in advertising for over ten years, and I run my own agency." Tony looked at her and laughed.

"Angela, I'm a housekeeper. You made more money than I did when you were the executive vice president of Wallace and McQuade." She glared at him.

"I thought you said that your salary was fine."

"It was, back in 1984; but it's 1993. Times have changed, prices have increased." He laughed. "And I couldn't have asked for a dime more. When I worked for you that is." Tony replied. He kissed Angela. **(A/N: It was brought up that this would be incredibly weird for Angela to still be paying her HUSBAND. Well, Tony is unemployed since he came back from Iowa. He wasn't able to find a job and they have been living off of her income. But up until the Spring of 1993, he was her housekeeper. they got married in April 1993 and now he's unemployed)**

"Did you ever realize that if it wasn't for you I might be with Grant instead of you?" Angela asked and Tony scoffed.

"You wouldn't be with Grant."

"Oh?" Angela asked. She wrapped her arm around him. "As I recall, you are the one who stopped me from spending the weekend with him."

"But you decided that on your own. I imagine you would have found somebody better because Grant wasn't the man for you."

"Maybe you're right." Angela replied. She kissed Tony's cheek. "Well, I'm going to bed, and I'm suggesting you go to bed too." With that, she sashayed over to the bed. Tony walked over and turned the light off as he jumped into bed.


End file.
